Aroldis Chapman came into Sunday’s 9th having allowed six earned runs in his last 5 1/3 innings, covering six appearances. / Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE

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After days like Sunday, it’s helpful to remember that one game in a baseball season is like one dollar in Mitt Romney’s pocket. Seventy-one down, only 91 to go.

That said. . .

Ban The Book.

Burn it, shred it, make it as gone as Josh Willingham’s mega-homer in the 9th inning Sunday. I don’t know who devised The Book. A collaborative effort, perhaps, led by Tony La Russa, more than 20 years ago. Prof. La Russa has retired. He should have taken his Book with him.

It is not written somewhere in the baseball rulebook or the Faber College constitution that a manager must bring in his closer to pitch the 9th inning of any game his team leads by a run. It is not written on some tablet buried somewhere near Mariano Rivera’s locker.

You don’t have to go by The Book.

It’s an easy second-guess, among the easiest. Aroldis Chapman does his job, the Reds have a tidy victory, a series win and a little momentum heading into a division series with Milwaukee. As it was, Chapman flamed out, allowing a one-out double to Minnesota’s Joe Mauer, then a heat-missile homer to Willingham. The Reds lose a game they should have won.

Dusty Baker went by The Book. Most managers do. One, because it’s generally effective. And two, because if The Book-work blows up, managers can say they played it by The Book.

“That’s Chapman’s job,’’ Baker said. “Right?’’

Right.

A manager’s job, occasionally, is to find wins and salvation beyond The Book. That involves trusting a hunch, or feeling the flow of the game unfolding before him. Something deep inside that he has acquired in four decades of being in the major leagues.

Mike Leake had thrown 86 pitches in eight innings. That’s not a lot. He’d thrown 114 his previous start, a win. In seven of his first 13 starts, he’d thrown at least 86 pitches. Afterward, Leake said he had no issue with Baker’s decision to remove him. He also said he felt fine.

Leake had allowed a run in the 7th, but had breezed through the 8th. Even in the 7th, he’d escaped a second-and-third, no-out cornering by allowing just the one run. And, oh, yeah, he’d pitched as well as he had all year.

Chapman, meanwhile, has been as bad in the last two weeks as he’d been brilliant the previous two months. He came into Sunday’s 9th having allowed six earned runs in his last 5 1/3 innings, covering six appearances. He got the first out easily, then Mauer schooled him with a terrific, 10-pitch at-bat, before drilling a double off the wall in left.

Willingham followed with the 437-foot crush-job that decided the game.

Would Leake have done likewise? No telling. But why, oh why, not give him the chance? Have him start the 9th. Let him show he doesn’t have enough left. Of course, that’s not what The Book says.

“Everybody’s got a job to do,’’ Baker said. “If I send (Leake) out and he gives it up (detractors will say) why not Chapman?’’

They might.

So what?

Part of earning your managing money is to take the second-guesses and deposit them in the nearest spittoon. You’re a manager, you’re going to be second-guessed, just about every day. Sometimes, you need to abandon the safety of The Book and get guided by what you’re watching in front of you.

The larger issue, of course, isn’t Sunday’s loss. It’s the recent lapses of Chapman, who in the last fortnight has gone from being the Federal Reserve of relievers to a hedge-fund trader. Conventional wisdom is he needs to start throwing more sliders, because good hitters can hit good fastballs, if that’s all they see.

“I was glad he mixed it up some,’’ Leake allowed.

Chapman said his back is fine. He agreed he needed to throw more breaking balls. Baker said Chapman was suffering a lapse in confidence. “He’s only human,’’ Baker said.

Maybe it’s also good to remember baseball seasons don’t follow a book. Last Sunday, the Reds had just won their sixth in a row and owned a four-game lead. We were pondering the moves they should make to enhance their October stature.

On May 3, St. Louis was 16-8 and we were wondering about a Reds wild-card. The Cardinals are 22-27 since.

But Sunday hurt. That can happen when you go by The Book, and someone throws it at you. Sometimes, it’s best to trust your gut.